[MrPiper]

I think this says it all. By the way, long time since I posted here, so be gentle.

[goldstategop]

How about hiring Americans to do the harvest at fair wages? Oh yeah, that's a more radical concept than hiring illegal cheap labor. Without the latter, we can't keep bread and cereal prices low. As if everything's about money.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[WorkerbeeCitizen]

I hate break it you but American's know how to harvest wheat. We have been doing it for a long time without illegal immigrants.

Just another "poor immigrant" piece about how America will go down the tube without them.

[Monitor]

Unless and until mass deportations start to happen, which won’t as long as Bush is in office, this article is nothing but FUD.

[Son House]

Just check for their Green Card, before hiring, easy,
no excuse for hiring illegal, when there already is a ‘guest worker’ Green Card.

[Bernard]

Over 100 years ago, didn't somebody write a book about the meat packing business in Chicago? Seems to me that if working conditions are so bad, the government can legislate better working conditions, which would make the cost of low-skill labor so high that business would make capital investments to replace the workers with machinery. Or move their business to another country.

That is what happened with manufacturing in this country.

[kingu]

There are at least twelve million illegals in the United States right now, as well as an excess of 220,000 temporary guest workers. If farmers are having a hard time of it, it is not because these are jobs that Americans will not do, it is because not even an illegal will do it.

The farmers will have to raise salaries until the can find an acceptable level of pay for their workers. Tough luck Charlie, costs go up and because of years of neglect of the laws, the workers have moved up to jobs in construction and other work in high density areas knowing from example that such areas are far less risky and pay better wages.

If, however, there is a substantial rise in raids in urban areas, you’ll likely see them come back. Every grower, for their own economic self interest should be constantly pushing for more raids and deportations in urban regions.

[longtermmemmory]

how about robots or machines?

A harvester just replaced humans anyways.

[Caipirabob]

If I could just club liberal every time I read one of these immigrant SOB pieces we'd have resolved the entire issue by now AND there'd be no more liberals (except for what naturally occurs in colonies of fungi and bacteria.)

[Mark was here]

This is cotton picking crazy.

[nyyankeefan]

how was the wheat raised before the hordes of illegals invaded???

[RoadTest]

“That may lower crop yields, raise food prices and force some growers out of business, they say.”

O.K. with me.

Now lets get out and ENFORCE the existing lawsod immigration and SEAL the Mexican border, and we’ll find we don’t need a “comprehensive immigration bill”!

[LibLieSlayer]

Defeat of INVADER AMNESTY has NO effect on these workers. There is NO fence... no enforcement... and to quote an 80’s band... “Same as it ever was”!

LLS

[William Terrell]

I think the question is whether the difference between the wages paid to illegals and the wages that would have to be paid to American workers reduces the cost of the product or goes into the farmer's packet.

[HereInTheHeartland]

“U.S. Wheat Farmers Face Grim Harvests as Immigration Bill Dies”

Total, complete, truck load size of BS alert on that story.
The wheat harvest is something hasn’t been done by Mexicans traditionally.
And I’m guessing that the farmers don’t let uneducated Mexicans make repairs to $300,000 combines.
Every farmer works 16 hours a day during harvest here in the midwest; I know I used to do it.
I’m guessing the reporter’s work hours are a bit shorter.
And we don’t have Mexicans involved with our harvest here.

[Lacey]

We lost our wheat this year because of too much rain; that’s the breaks. I suppose if the eliterati can’t blame it on the immigration bill they’ll blame global warming.

[clodkicker]

The majority of the harvest crews use South Africans (Afrikaners) along with family members. The problem farmers have is not the pay but finding someone to work the hours required to get the crop planted and harvested on time.

[The Great RJ]

With the ethanol boondoggle few acres of wheat, soybeans and just about everything else are being planeted in corn. Out here on the Dakota tundra I hardly see any soybean fields and instead it’s fence row to fence row to with corn. Even some marginal corn ground is being planted with corn just to cash in on the high price. We may end up having to import our wheat.

[no dems]

Use your Government Subsidies to pay them.

[no dems]

Use your Government Subsidies to pay them.

[Ditter]

What is the big deal, the same people who harvested last year are still here this year.